Dynamic contact management systems and methods

ABSTRACT

For micro, small and medium enterprises issues relating to cost, manpower, IT infrastructure, etc. absorb a major portion of the enterprise&#39;s focus. However, today they are also marketing and engaging their customers and potential customers on more parallel channels than ever today across traditional media, electronic media and evolving trends such as social media, blogs, etc. Accordingly, micro, small and medium enterprises would benefit from a solution implementing lead management across these wide range of technologies and formats at a time where network capabilities and portable electronic device capabilities have led to expectations, especially within younger demographics such as “millennials” particularly, of immediate responsiveness.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit of priority from U.S.Provisional Patent Application 62/083,942 filed Nov. 25, 2014 entitled“Dynamic Contact Management Systems and Methods”, the entire contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to sales contacts and more particularly tointegrated front-end contact and lead management systems supportingdiverse entry formats and distributed impacted personnel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Within business the term “Lead Management” typically refers to themethodologies, systems, and practices employed by a business to generatenew potential business and business clientele, and is generally operatedthrough a variety of marketing campaigns or programs. Lead management ascommonly thought of facilitates the connection between outgoingconsumer-customer advertising and the responses to that advertising. Assuch different processes may be employed business-to-business anddirect-to-consumer activities. Lead management is considered therefore aprecursor to sales management (SM) and customer relationship management(CRM). As such within the prior art this has been viewed as theconnectivity that facilitates business profitability through theacquisition of new customers, selling to existing customers, andcreating a market brand.

As such within the prior art the general principles of lead managementcreate an ordered structure for managing volumes of business inquiries,frequently termed leads. The processes are therefore established tocreate an architecture for the organization of data, distributed acrossthe various stages of a sales process, and across a distributed salesforce. With the advent of the Internet and other information systemstechnologies, this process has rapidly become technology-centric, asbusinesses practicing lead management techniques have shifted toautomated systems. However, a reliance on automation can significantlyminimize the personal interactions with lead inquiries that are vital tosuccess within a significant proportion of enterprises, especially atthe micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) levels. The EuropeanCommunity defines MSMEs as being enterprises with up to 10, 50 and 250employees respectively.

Accordingly, today lead management systems, whilst apparently simple inscope, have evolved to model and simulate complex process flows asclients, prospective clients, and enterprise personnel, typically salesprofessionals, interact. These prior art approaches are complex as eachinteraction and subsequent action creates a variety of potentialoutcomes, both productive and counter-productive to businessdevelopment. This ever-increasing number of scenarios creates functionaldisconnects, in other words, critical opportunities to mishandle aninquiry that reduces or destroys its potential value. Appropriatemanagement of these scenarios is the function of lead management withinthe prior art.

However, for MSMEs, lead management is typically not part of an overallset of business solutions including SM, CRM, etc. although even at theirinitial stages MSMEs know such tools and methodologies are available.Rather MSMEs experience issues relating to cost, manpower, ITinfrastructure, etc. and hence such tool sets are typically in theirfuture plans. However, at the same time MSMEs today are marketing andengaging their customers and potential customers on more parallelchannels than ever as today as leads etc. may arise from traditionaltelephony, although may be fixed and mobile which may trigger differentresponse approaches, and in-person but also via electronic mail (email),form completion upon web site(s), website tracking software, and socialmedia which may itself represent posts to social media, social mediacontent, etc. as well as text. This increased range of options alsocomes at a time where both network capabilities and portable electronicdevice capabilities have led to expectations, within youngerdemographics particularly, of immediate responsiveness.

Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide MSMEs with a discreteuser configurable software solution allowing them to receive customerinput from a disparate array of sources and based upon tags and contentwithin the customer input route the input to one or more MSME personnel.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparentto those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the followingdescription of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction withthe accompanying figures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to address limitations withinthe prior art relating sales contacts and more particularly tointegrated front-end contact and lead management systems supportingdiverse entry formats and distributed impacted personnel.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided amethod of automatically receiving and distributing a related set of datawithin an enterprise wherein each related set of data is received from asource of a plurality of sources and comprises at least a tag of aplurality of tags such that the distribution is based upon at least theplurality of tags, a plurality of first rules each associated with aspecific tag type and/or tag value, and a plurality of second rulesestablished by the enterprise each relating to a portion of the internalorganization and personnel of the enterprise.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there are providedcomputer implementable instructions stored within a non-volatile,non-transitory physical storage medium for execution by amicroprocessor, the computer implementable instructions relating to aprocess, the process comprising automatically receiving and distributinga related set of data within an enterprise wherein each related set ofdata is received from a source of a plurality of sources and comprisesat least a tag of a plurality of tags such that the distribution isbased upon at least the plurality of tags, a plurality of first ruleseach associated with a specific tag type and/or tag value, and aplurality of second rules established by the enterprise each relating toa portion of the internal organization and personnel of the enterprise.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention there is provided asystem comprising: a microprocessor;

-   a first non-volatile, non-transitory physical storage medium for    storing computer implementable instructions for execution by the    microprocessor;-   a second non-transitory physical storage medium for storing    electronic content;-   a plurality of first interfaces, each first interface for receiving    related sets of data from a source wherein the multiple sources are    different and their data is parsed by the respective first interface    to associate at least a tag of a plurality of tags with the related    set of data;-   a plurality of second interfaces, each second interfacing for    distributing to a predetermined subset of recipients of a plurality    of recipients, wherein-   the predetermined subset are determined based upon at least the tag    of the plurality of tags and a first rule of a plurality of first    rules where the first rule of the plurality of first rules is    determined by at least one of the source and the first interface    receiving the related set of data.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparentto those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the followingdescription of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction withthe accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a network environment within which embodiments of theinvention may be employed;

FIG. 2 depicts a wireless portable electronic device supportingcommunications to a network such as depicted in FIG. 1 and as supportingembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 depicts exemplary screenshots of an application according to anembodiment of the invention relating to a real estate brokerage;

FIG. 4 depicts exemplary screenshots of an application according to anembodiment of the invention relating to a real estate brokerage;

FIG. 5 exemplary screenshots of an application according to anembodiment of the invention relating to a real estate brokerage;

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary login screen of an application according toan embodiment of the invention upon a range of electronic devices;

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary flowchart for an application according to anembodiment of the invention relating to adding a new user;

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary flowchart for an application according to anembodiment of the invention relating to classifying a new contact orlead;

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary flowchart for an application according to anembodiment of the invention relating to segmentation of new contact orlead based upon contact/lead source; and

FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary flowchart for an application according toan embodiment of the invention relating to allocation of new contacts orleads within an based upon contact/lead source.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to sales contacts and moreparticularly to integrated front-end contact and lead management systemssupporting diverse entry formats and distributed impacted personnel.

The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiment(s) only, and isnot intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of thedisclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplaryembodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with an enablingdescription for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It beingunderstood that various changes may be made in the function andarrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope asset forth in the appended claims.

A “portable electronic device” (PED) as used herein and throughout thisdisclosure, refers to a wireless device used for communications andother applications that requires a battery or other independent form ofenergy for power. This includes devices, but is not limited to, such asa cellular telephone, smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA),portable computer, pager, portable multimedia player, portable gamingconsole, laptop computer, tablet computer, and an electronic reader.

A “fixed electronic device” (FED) as used herein and throughout thisdisclosure, refers to a wireless and/or wired device used forcommunications and other applications that requires connection to afixed interface to obtain power. This includes, but is not limited to, alaptop computer, a personal computer, a computer server, a kiosk, agaming console, a digital set-top box, an analog set-top box, anInternet enabled appliance, an Internet enabled television, and amultimedia player.

An “application” (commonly referred to as an “app”) as used herein mayrefer to, but is not limited to, a “software application”, an element ofa “software suite”, a computer program designed to allow an individualto perform an activity, a computer program designed to allow anelectronic device to perform an activity, and a computer programdesigned to communicate with local and/or remote electronic devices. Anapplication thus differs from an operating system (which runs acomputer), a utility (which performs maintenance or general-purposechores), and a programming tools (with which computer programs arecreated). Generally, within the following description with respect toembodiments of the invention an application is generally presented inrespect of software permanently and/or temporarily installed upon a PEDand/or FED.

A “social network” or “social networking service” as used herein mayrefer to, but is not limited to, a platform to build social networks orsocial relations among people who may, for example, share interests,activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. This includes, but isnot limited to, social networks such as U.S. based services such asFacebook, Google+, Tumblr and Twitter; as well as Nexopia, Badoo, Bebo,VKontakte, Delphi, Hi5, Hyves, iWiW, Nasza-Klasa, Soup, Glocals,Skyrock, The Sphere, StudiVZ, Tagged, Tuenti, XING, Orkut, Mxit,Cyworld, Mixi, renren, weibo and Wretch.

“Social media” or “social media services” as used herein may refer to,but is not limited to, a means of interaction among people in which theycreate, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtualcommunities and networks. This includes, but is not limited to, socialmedia services relating to magazines, Internet forums, weblogs, socialblogs, microblogging, wikis, social networks, podcasts, photographs orpictures, video, rating and social bookmarking as well as thoseexploiting blogging, picture-sharing, video logs, wall-posting,music-sharing, crowdsourcing and voice over IP, to name a few. Socialmedia services may be classified, for example, as collaborative projects(for example, Wikipedia); blogs and microblogs (for example, Twitter™);content communities (for example, YouTube and DailyMotion); socialnetworking sites (for example, Facebook™); virtual game-worlds (e.g.,World of Warcraft™); and virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life™)

An “enterprise” as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, aprovider of a service and/or a product to a user, customer, or consumer.This includes, but is not limited to, a retail outlet, a store, amarket, an online marketplace, a manufacturer, an online retailer, acharity, a utility, and a service provider. Such enterprises may bedirectly owned and controlled by a company or may be owned and operatedby a franchisee under the direction and management of a franchiser.

A “service provider” as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to,a third party provider of a service and/or a product to an enterpriseand/or individual and/or group of individuals and/or a device comprisinga microprocessor. This includes, but is not limited to, a retail outlet,a store, a market, an online marketplace, a manufacturer, an onlineretailer, a utility, an own brand provider, and a service providerwherein the service and/or product is at least one of marketed, sold,offered, and distributed by the enterprise solely or in addition to theservice provider.

A ‘third party’ or “third party provider” as used herein may refer to,but is not limited to, a so-called “arm's length” provider of a serviceand/or a product to an enterprise and/or individual and/or group ofindividuals and/or a device comprising a microprocessor wherein theconsumer and/or customer engages the third party but the actual serviceand/or product that they are interested in and/or purchase and/orreceive is provided through an enterprise and/or service provider.

A “user” as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, anindividual or group of individuals whose biometric data may be, but notlimited to, monitored, acquired, stored, transmitted, processed andanalysed either locally or remotely to the user wherein by theirengagement with a service provider, third party provider, enterprise,social network, social media etc. via a dashboard, web service, website,software plug-in, software application, graphical user interfaceacquires, for example, electronic content. This includes, but is notlimited to, private individuals, employees of organizations and/orenterprises, members of community organizations, members of charityorganizations, men, women, children, and teenagers.

A “wearable device” or “wearable sensor” relates to miniature electronicdevices that are worn by the user including those under, within, with oron top of clothing and are part of a broader general class of wearabletechnology which includes “wearable computers” which in contrast aredirected to general or special purpose information technologies andmedia development. Such wearable devices and/or wearable sensors mayinclude, but not be limited to, smartphones, smart watches, e-textiles,smart shirts, activity trackers, smart glasses, environmental sensors,medical sensors, biological sensors, physiological sensors, chemicalsensors, ambient environment sensors, position sensors, neurologicalsensors, drug delivery systems, medical testing and diagnosis devices,and motion sensors.

“Electronic content” (also referred to as “content” or “digitalcontent”) as used herein may refer to, but is not limited to, any typeof content that exists in the form of digital data as stored,transmitted, received and/or converted wherein one or more of thesesteps may be analog although generally these steps will be digital.Forms of digital content include, but are not limited to, informationthat is digitally broadcast, streamed or contained in discrete files.Viewed narrowly, types of digital content include popular media typessuch as MP3, JPG, AVI, TIFF, AAC, TXT, RTF, HTML, XHTML, PDF, XLS, SVG,WMA, MP4, FLV, and PPT, for example, as well as others, see for examplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats. Within a broaderapproach digital content mat include any type of digital information,e.g. digitally updated weather forecast, a GPS map, an eBook, aphotograph, a video, a Vine™, a blog posting, a Facebook™ posting, aTwitter™ tweet, online TV, etc. The digital content may be any digitaldata that is at least one of generated, selected, created, modified, andtransmitted in response to a user request, said request may be a query,a search, a trigger, an alarm, and a message for example.

Reference to “content information” as used herein may refer to, but isnot limited to, any combination of content features, content servingconstraints, information derivable from content features or contentserving constraints (referred to as “content derived information”),and/or information related to the content (referred to as “contentrelated information”), as well as an extension of such information(e.g., information derived from content related information).

Reference to a “document” as used herein may refer to, but is notlimited to, any machine-readable and machine-storable work product. Adocument may be a file, a combination of files, one or more files withembedded links to other files, etc. The files may be of any type, suchas text, audio, image, video, etc. Parts of a document to be rendered toan end user can be thought of as “content” of the document. A documentmay include “structured data” containing both content (words, pictures,etc.) and some indication of the meaning of that content (for example,e-mail fields and associated data, HTML tags and associated data, etc.).In the context of the Internet, a common document is a Web page. Webpages often include content and may include embedded information (suchas meta-information, hyperlinks, etc.) and/or embedded instructions(such as Javascript, etc.). In many cases, a document has a unique,addressable, storage location and can therefore be uniquely identifiedby this addressable location such as a universal resource locator (URL)for example used as a unique address used to access information on theInternet.

“Document information” as used herein may refer to, but is not limitedto, may include any information included in the document, informationderivable from information included in the document (referred to as“document derived information”), and/or information related to thedocument (referred to as “document related information”), as well as anextensions of such information (e.g., information derived from relatedinformation). An example of document derived information is aclassification based on textual content of a document. Examples ofdocument related information include document information from otherdocuments with links to the instant document, as well as documentinformation from other documents to which the instant document links.

Referring to FIG. 1 there is depicted a network environment 100 withinwhich embodiments of the invention may be employed supporting publishingsystems and publishing applications/platforms (CMS-CMAPs) according toembodiments of the invention. Such CMS-CMAPs, for example supportingmultiple channels and dynamic content. As shown first and second usergroups 100A and 100B respectively interface to a telecommunicationsnetwork 100. Within the representative telecommunication architecture aremote central exchange 180 communicates with the remainder of atelecommunication service providers network via the network 100 whichmay include for example long-haul OC-48/OC-192 backbone elements, anOC-48 wide area network (WAN), a Passive Optical Network, and a WirelessLink. The central exchange 180 is connected via the network 100 tolocal, regional, and international exchanges (not shown for clarity) andtherein through network 100 to first and second cellular APs 195A and195B respectively which provide Wi-Fi cells for first and second usergroups 100A and 100B respectively. Also connected to the network 100 arefirst and second Wi-Fi nodes 110A and 110B, the latter of which beingcoupled to network 100 via router 105. Second Wi-Fi node 110B isassociated with Enterprise 160, e.g. Multiple Listing Service™,comprising other first and second user groups 100A and 100B. Second usergroup 100B may also be connected to the network 100 via wired interfacesincluding, but not limited to, DSL, Dial-Up, DOCSIS, Ethernet, G.hn,ISDN, MoCA, PON, and Power line communication (PLC) which may or may notbe routed through a router such as router 105.

Within the cell associated with first AP 110A the first group of users100A may employ a variety of PEDs including for example, laptop computer155, portable gaming console 135, tablet computer 140, smartphone 150,cellular telephone 145 as well as portable multimedia player 130. Withinthe cell associated with second AP 110B are the second group of users100B which may employ a variety of FEDs including for example gamingconsole 125, personal computer 115 and wireless/Internet enabledtelevision 120 as well as cable modem 105. First and second cellular APs195A and 195B respectively provide, for example, cellular GSM (GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications) telephony services as well as 3G and4G evolved services with enhanced data transport support. Secondcellular AP 195B provides coverage in the exemplary embodiment to firstand second user groups 100A and 100B. Alternatively the first and seconduser groups 100A and 100B may be geographically disparate and access thenetwork 100 through multiple APs, not shown for clarity, distributedgeographically by the network operator or operators. First cellular AP195A as show provides coverage to first user group 100A and environment170, which comprises second user group 100B as well as first user group100A. Accordingly, the first and second user groups 100A and 100B mayaccording to their particular communications interfaces communicate tothe network 100 through one or more wireless communications standardssuch as, for example, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, IEEE 802.16, IEEE802.20, UMTS, GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, GPRS, ITU-R 5.138,ITU-R 5.150, ITU-R 5.280, and IMT-1000. It would be evident to oneskilled in the art that many portable and fixed electronic devices maysupport multiple wireless protocols simultaneously, such that forexample a user may employ GSM services such as telephony and SMS andWi-Fi/WiMAX data transmission, VOIP and Internet access. Accordinglyportable electronic devices within first user group 100A may formassociations either through standards such as IEEE 802.15 and Bluetoothas well in an ad-hoc manner.

Also connected to the network 100 are Social Networks (SOCNETS) 165,first and second service provider networks 170A and 170B respectively,e.g. RE/MAX™ and Royal LePage™, first and second service providers 170Cand 170D respectively, e.g. Locations North and Doug Gillis, parts ofthe second and first service provider networks 170B and 170Arespectively. Also connected to the network 100 are first to fourth feednetworks 175A to 175D respectively, e.g. comFree™, Kijiji™,MetrolandMedia, and Zoocasa™ together with others, not shown forclarity. First and second servers 190A and 190B may host according toembodiments of the inventions multiple services associated with aprovider of contact management systems and contact managementapplications/platforms (CMS-CMAPs); a provider of a SOCNET or SocialMedia (SOME) exploiting CMS-CMAP features; a provider of a SOCNET and/orSOME not exploiting CMS-CMAP features; a provider of services to PEDSand/or FEDS; a provider of one or more aspects of wired and/or wirelesscommunications; an Enterprise 160 exploiting CMS-CMAP features; licensedatabases; content databases; image databases; content libraries;customer databases; websites; and software applications for download toor access by FEDs and/or PEDs exploiting and/or hosting CMS-CMAPfeatures. First and second primary content servers 190A and 190B mayalso host for example other Internet services such as a search engine,financial services, third party applications and other Internet basedservices.

Accordingly, a consumer and/or customer (CONCUS) may exploit a PEDand/or FED within an Enterprise 160, for example, and access one of thefirst or second primary content servers 190A and 190B respectively toperform an operation such as accessing/downloading an application whichprovides CMS-CMAP features according to embodiments of the invention;execute an application already installed providing CMS-CMAP features;execute a web based application providing CMS-CMAP features; or accesscontent. Similarly, a CONCUS may undertake such actions or othersexploiting embodiments of the invention exploiting a PED or FED withinfirst and second user groups 100A and 100B respectively via one of firstand second cellular APs 195A and 195B respectively and first Wi-Fi nodes110A.

Now referring to FIG. 2 there is depicted an electronic device 204 andnetwork access point 207 supporting CMS-CMAP features according toembodiments of the invention. Electronic device 204 may, for example, bea PED and/or FED and may include additional elements above and beyondthose described and depicted. Also depicted within the electronic device204 is the protocol architecture as part of a simplified functionaldiagram of a system 200 that includes an electronic device 204, such asa smartphone 155, an access point (AP) 206, such as first AP 110, andone or more network devices 207, such as communication servers,streaming media servers, and routers for example such as first andsecond servers 190A and 190B respectively. Network devices 207 may becoupled to AP 206 via any combination of networks, wired, wirelessand/or optical communication links such as discussed above in respect ofFIG. 1 as well as directly as indicated. Network devices 207 are coupledto network 100 and therein Social Networks (SOCNETS) 165, first andsecond service provider networks 170A and 170B respectively, e.g.RE/MAX™ and Royal LePage™, first and second service providers 170C and170D respectively, e.g. Locations North and Doug Gillis, parts of thefirst and second service provider networks 170A and 170B respectivelyand first to fourth feed networks 175A to 175D respectively, e.g.comFree™, Kijiji™, MetrolandMedia, and Zoocasa™ together with others,not shown for clarity.

The electronic device 204 includes one or more processors 210 and amemory 212 coupled to processor(s) 210. AP 206 also includes one or moreprocessors 211 and a memory 213 coupled to processor(s) 210. Anon-exhaustive list of examples for any of processors 210 and 211includes a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor(DSP), a reduced instruction set computer (RISC), a complex instructionset computer (CISC) and the like. Furthermore, any of processors 210 and211 may be part of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) ormay be a part of application specific standard products (ASSPs). Anon-exhaustive list of examples for memories 212 and 213 includes anycombination of the following semiconductor devices such as registers,latches, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory devices, non-volatile random accessmemory devices (NVRAM), SDRAM, DRAM, double data rate (DDR) memorydevices, SRAM, universal serial bus (USB) removable memory, and thelike.

Electronic device 204 may include an audio input element 214, forexample a microphone, and an audio output element 216, for example, aspeaker, coupled to any of processors 210. Electronic device 204 mayinclude a video input element 218, for example, a video camera orcamera, and a video output element 220, for example an LCD display,coupled to any of processors 210. Electronic device 204 also includes akeyboard 215 and touchpad 217 which may for example be a physicalkeyboard and touchpad allowing the user to enter content or selectfunctions within one of more applications 222. Alternatively thekeyboard 215 and touchpad 217 may be predetermined regions of a touchsensitive element forming part of the display within the electronicdevice 204. The one or more applications 222 that are typically storedin memory 212 and are executable by any combination of processors 210.Electronic device 204 also includes accelerometer 260 providingthree-dimensional motion input to the process 210 and GPS 262 whichprovides geographical location information to processor 210.

Electronic device 204 includes a protocol stack 224 and AP 206 includesa communication stack 225. Within system 200 protocol stack 224 is shownas IEEE 802.11 protocol stack but alternatively may exploit otherprotocol stacks such as an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)multimedia protocol stack for example. Likewise AP stack 225 exploits aprotocol stack but is not expanded for clarity. Elements of protocolstack 224 and AP stack 225 may be implemented in any combination ofsoftware, firmware and/or hardware. Protocol stack 224 includes an IEEE802.11-compatible PHY module 226 that is coupled to one or moreFront-End Tx/Rx & Antenna 228, an IEEE 802.11-compatible MAC module 230coupled to an IEEE 802.2-compatible LLC module 232. Protocol stack 224includes a network layer IP module 234, a transport layer User DatagramProtocol (UDP) module 236 and a transport layer Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) module 238.

Protocol stack 224 also includes a session layer Real Time TransportProtocol (RTP) module 240, a Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) module242, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) module 244 and a Real TimeStreaming Protocol (RTSP) module 246. Protocol stack 224 includes apresentation layer media negotiation module 248, a call control module250, one or more audio codecs 252 and one or more video codecs 254.Applications 222 may be able to create maintain and/or terminatecommunication sessions with any of devices 207 by way of AP 206.Typically, applications 222 may activate any of the SAP, SIP, RTSP,media negotiation and call control modules for that purpose. Typically,information may propagate from the SAP, SIP, RTSP, media negotiation andcall control modules to PHY module 226 through TCP module 238, IP module234, LLC module 232 and MAC module 230.

It would be apparent to one skilled in the art that elements of theelectronic device 204 may also be implemented within the AP 206including but not limited to one or more elements of the protocol stack224, including for example an IEEE 802.11-compatible PHY module, an IEEE802.11-compatible MAC module, and an IEEE 802.2-compatible LLC module232. The AP 206 may additionally include a network layer IP module, atransport layer User Datagram Protocol (UDP) module and a transportlayer Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) module as well as a sessionlayer Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) module, a Session AnnouncementProtocol (SAP) module, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) module and aReal Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) module, media negotiation module,and a call control module. Portable and fixed electronic devicesrepresented by electronic device 204 may include one or more additionalwireless or wired interfaces in addition to the depicted IEEE 802.11interface which may be selected from the group comprising IEEE 802.15,IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, UMTS, GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900,GPRS, ITU-R 5.138, ITU-R 5.150, ITU-R 5.280, IMT-1000, DSL, Dial-Up,DOCSIS, Ethernet, G.hn, ISDN, MoCA, PON, and Power line communication(PLC).

Now referring to FIG. 3 there are depicted first to fifth exemplaryscreenshots 310 to 350 respectively of an application according to anembodiment of the invention relating to a real estate brokerageexploiting a CMS-CMAP. Within first screenshot 310 a user, Robin, haslogged into the CMS-CMAP which due to their login credentials hasdirected them to Locations North, i.e. first service provider 170C,wherein they are provided with links to edit their company details,view/add leads, view/add agents, and view/add tags. Other users may beprovided with a more restricted set of options, e.g. view/add leads andview/add tags. The user if they select company details is directed tosecond screenshot 320 which displays company logo, a time limit peragent, e.g. 5 minutes; lists email endpoints, e.g.2_gethomes.ca@mg.leadassign.com; 2_royallepage@mg.leadassign.com;2_default@mg.leadassign.com; and tags associated with the serviceprovider, e.g. Collingwood, Meaford, and Thornbury.

On second screenshot 320 the user has an “Edit” button which directs theuser to fifth screenshot 350 allowing the user to change company detailssuch as displayed company name, time limit per agent, and company logo.The time limit per agent represents the time that an agent, e.g. salesagent, has to respond to a request from a CONCUS routed to them beforeit is passed to another agent to address. Such a time limit may beapplied, for example, to queries received through one or more SOCNETs,e.g. Twitter™ or Facebook™. Within other embodiments of the inventionmultiple time limits may be applied, i.e. according to the SOCNET forexample. Within other embodiments of the invention keyword filters, tagidentifiers such as hashtags for example, etc. may be established andapplied by the user in respect of the timings such that responsivenessmay be tailored to their business, service, CONCUS enquiry etc. Forexample, a Facebook posting from a CONCUS containing the hashtag viewingmay trigger a short time limit per agent such that the CMS-CMAP willcycle through agents quickly in the event that no response is receivedto address the CONCUS enquiry in a timely manner. As evident fromdiscussions below in respect of embodiments of the invention below theagent or agents may be contacted through one or more means based uponfactors such as the enquiry, the enquiry source, hashtag(s), etc.Accordingly, the CMS-CMAP may send a message to an agent by one or moremeans simultaneously, e.g. electronic mail, tweet, Facebook post,telephone, and text. Optionally, the CMS-CMAP may cycle agents using onesubset of messaging formats before cycling a second time using adifferent subset of messaging formats. For example, initially a textmessage may be employed followed by a telephone call.

If in second screenshot 320 the user elects to edit the tags then theyare presented initially with third screenshot 330 wherein each currentlyestablished tag is listed together with associated edit and deletebuttons. Selection of edit leads the user to fourth screenshot 340allowing them to adjust the tag either in term or it's weighting. Theuser may also through third screenshot 330 add new tags. Accordingly,weightings may be assigned to tags for process determination and actionsby the CMS-CMAP. Optionally, the user may be also provided through tagedit/addition screens, not depicted for clarity, to associate particularagent groups, agents, actions, events etc. based upon combinations oftags and/or their weightings.

Now referring to FIG. 4 there are depicted first to third screenshots410 to 430 respectively of an application according to an embodiment ofthe invention relating to a real estate brokerage exploiting a CMS-CMAP.In first screenshot 310 in FIG. 3 if the user elects to view/add leadsthen they are initially directed to first screen shot 410 in FIG. 4.Accordingly, displayed to the user are current leads with key extracteddata such as name, phone, email, text, tags allowing them to view these,sort, filter, etc. as known within the prior art. The user can also viewany event history of the lead generated as the result of actions by theCMS-CMAP. Such event history may include, but not be limited to, receipttiming, action timing, action results, agent(s) engaged, etc. Withinfirst screenshot 410 the user is able to manually add a lead to theCMS-CMAP although such leads as described below in respect of FIGS. 8 to10 will also be acquired through processing of one or more lead sourcesand referral means which in many instances will be automaticallyprocessed and entered into the CMS-CMAP.

If the user selects to view the lead history then they are presentedwith a pop-up window, for example, such as depicted in second and thirdscreenshot 420 and 430 respectively, wherein the history is shown. Inthis instance it shows that on 2014-11-06 at 14:14:32 the agent withuser_id=3 declined the sales lead that had been initiated at 14:14:09with a 5 minute time limit set to expire at 14:19:08. As the agentdeclined the process then shows that at 14:14:32 the task was action touser_id=2, similarly by email and text, with a new expiry time now of14:19:32 but the status of “Catchall” indicates the agent with user_id=2had been contact regarding handling the lead. If the user insteadelected in first screenshot 410 to add a new lead they would bepresented with fourth screen shot 440 wherein the user is prompted toenter key information such as contact name, telephone number, emailaddress, leads details and any tags. Once created the process triggersnotifications and agent sequencing such as described above and below.

Now referring to FIG. 5 there are depicted first to third screenshots510 to 530 respectively of an application according to an embodiment ofthe invention relating to a real estate brokerage exploiting a CMS-CMAP.In first screenshot 310 in FIG. 3 if the user elects to view/add agentsthen they are initially directed to first screen shot 510 in FIG. 5.Accordingly, this presents to the user the details of the current agentsassociated with the service provider, e.g. Locations North. In thisinstance four agents, Tom Andersen, James Palmer, Tom Tester, and RobinLidbetter are listed together with contact details, roles, availability,tags, etc. Also identified is a “Catchall” field wherein if a lead isparsed to an agent and not accepted within the allotted time, asdiscussed above, then the lead proceeds to be communicated to thoseselected within the “Catchall.” SMS Email

If the user selects “Edit” in respect of an agent then they are able tochange the data relating to that agent including contact means wherein“S . . . ” as displayed equates to SMS (i.e. text) and “E . . . ”equates to email. Additionally, their availability may be adjusted,tags, as well as other aspects of the agent's profile. If within any ofthe screenshots depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4 or first and secondscreenshots 510 and 520 in FIG. 5 then the user is presented with thirdscreenshot 530 representing the profile of the “super user” for theservice provider who created the account for the service provider, inthis instance “Robin Lidbetter.”

Referring to FIG. 6 there are depicted exemplary login screens of anCMS-CMAP application according to an embodiment of the invention upon arange of electronic devices wherein the CMS-CMAP application may havebeen designed and/or implemented as reactive and/or adaptive to thevarying display dimensions of different electronic devices, e.g. a PEDor FED, or the same electronic device, e.g. a PED, in differentorientations.

Referring to FIG. 7 there is depicted an exemplary flowchart for anapplication according to an embodiment of the invention relating toadding a new user. Within the description the flow is described withrespect to a real estate environment although it would be evident to oneskilled in the art that other enterprises, industries, organizations,etc. may exploit embodiments of the invention. As depicted the processcomprises the following steps:

-   -   Step 705—wherein the process starts with a user accessing the        CMS-CMAP as a registered user and selects to register a new        agent such as depicted in first screenshot 510 in FIG. 5;    -   Step 710—wherein the new agent's details are added;    -   Step 715—wherein any enterprise associations are made, e.g. for        a realtor with the brokerage such as Tom Andersen with the        Meaford office of Locations North as depicted in first        screenshot 510 in FIG. 5;    -   Step 720—wherein a decision is made as to whether the territory        associated with the enterprise association made in step 715 is        to be made wherein a positive determination leads to step 725        otherwise the process proceeds to step 730;    -   Step 725—the territory associated with the enterprise        association for the new agent is modified, such that for example        a new agent may be restricted initially to a portion of the        overall territory or alternatively to specific clients, types of        activity etc. (e.g. downtown Meaford and commercial or Wasaga        Beach area and rentals);    -   Step 730—based upon the determination and amendments made with        respect to the new agent's territory a determination is made in        step 730 as to whether adjustments will be made to other agent's        territories wherein a positive determination leads to step 735        otherwise the process proceeds to step 740;    -   Step 735—adjustments are made to other agent territories;    -   Step 740—wherein broker filters for the agent are established        either in association with their territory or in addition to;    -   Step 745—wherein external feeds are associated with the new        agent, such that for example a trainee may be only engaged        through another agent avoiding issues with direct public        engagement initially or the new agent may be only fed leads        arising from walk-in customers to the Meaford office for        example;    -   Step 750—wherein external feed filters are associated with the        new agent and their external feed sources, such that for example        a real estate trainee may only receive leads in respect of        properties below a particular threshold;    -   Step 755—the process stops.

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary flowchart for an application according to anembodiment of the invention relating to classifying a new contact orlead. Within the description the flow is described with respect to areal estate environment although it would be evident to one skilled inthe art that other enterprises, industries, organizations, etc. mayexploit embodiments of the invention. As depicted the process comprisesfirst to third sub-flows 800A to 800C representing lead generation 800A,lead classification 800B, and lead processing 800C which contain thefollowing steps:

-   -   Step 805—wherein the process starts and awaits triggers from a        lead being generated through one of the lead resources 810 to        830;    -   Steps 810 to 830—wherein each represents a lead resource through        which a CONCUS may engage the enterprise and provide information        either in terms of acquiring an asset provided by or managed by        the enterprise executing the CMS-CMAP. As indicated these        include website 810; social media feeds 815; mobility feeds 820        such as text, email, etc.; pay per click 825 wherein the        enterprise exploits click-through advertising in other online        locations; and direct 830 wherein a CONCUS engages through        telephone or in-person;    -   Step 835—wherein an initial global classification of the        received lead from a lead source is undertaken as some enquiries        may be incorrectly associated to the enterprise by the CONCUS,        for example, or routed to a specific individual;    -   Step 840—wherein geographic classification processing is        performed such that the enquiry is associated to the correct        geographic office or if it has been received incorrectly then it        may be fed as a referral to the correct office, e.g. the        Collingwood, Ontario office really should have been Collingwood        Cove, Alberta;    -   Step 850—wherein property classification(s) are verified as        perhaps a routing to the Meaford office for a commercial        property purchase is incorrect as no commercial transactions are        undertaken at Meaford, rather they are performed by the        Collingwood office;    -   Step 855—wherein a listing classification is made as some agents        may be associated with specific listings whereas others may be        general or there may be no associated listing;    -   Step 860—wherein the inquiry is classified based upon content,        source etc. as a direct text regarding a specific listing would        be associated to a high priority whereas a simple click-through        from a website may be handled at lower priority or be associated        to specific agents, administration personnel etc.,    -   Step 865—wherein additional lead classification activities are        performed, such as associating the lead with a known buyer for        example;    -   Step 870—wherein any time related classification is performed,        e.g. does the lead relate to an open house, a sealed bid        process, require addressing with a predetermined time period,        etc.;    -   Step 875—distribution of the lead(s) is undertaken based upon        data generated through the classification sub-flow 800B and        standard processes established within the CMS-CMAP;    -   Step 880—the lead data from the CMS-CMAP is interfaced to the        enterprise customer relationship management (CRM) tool(s) for        lead tracking/management after initial processing such that        their current standard tool and process flows for lead tracking,        lead fulfilment, etc.;    -   Step 885—the CMS-CMAP is interfaced to the enterprise customer        relationship management (CRM) tool(s) for result        tracking/management such that outputs from their current        standard tool and process flows for result/fulfilment etc. can        be interfaced back to the CMS-CMAP such that        classifications/distributions etc. may be modified where        appropriate;    -   Step 890—wherein the process ends.

Now referring to FIG. 9 there is depicted an exemplary flowchart for anapplication according to an embodiment of the invention relating tosegmentation of new contact or lead based upon contact/lead source.Accordingly as depicted the process flow begins at step 905 beforeproceeding to sub-flow 900A wherein the received lead is filtered andpre-processed according to steps 910 to 930 accordingly to whether thelead was derived from website, social media, mobility, pay-per-click ordirectly. From each of steps 910 to 930 respectively the processproceeds to a corresponding sub-flow of first to fifth segmentationworkflows 900B to 900F respectively. Of these only first segmentationworkflow 900B is described in detail although each of second to fifthsegmentation workflows 900C to 900F respectively follow essentiallysimilar flows although the segmentation sequencing, segmentationconditions, etc. may be different as established within the CMS-CMAP.

Accordingly referring to first segmentation workflow 900B this consistsof first to seventh segmentation stages 935, 945, 955, 965, 975, 985 and990 respectively interspersed with first to sixth decisions 940, 950,960, 970, and 980 respectively. Each of the first to sixth decisions940, 950, 960, 970, and 980 respectively determines whether matching ofthe processed input received at the CMS-CMAP can be pushed for agentdistribution in step 955A or whether additional segmentation isrequired. Accordingly, the process flow depicted in FIG. 9 can adapt tohandling multiple simultaneous inputs, e.g. customer leads, as well ashandling a single input with multiple listings or elements. Accordinglyconsidering first to seventh segmentation stages 935, 945, 955, 965,975, 985 and 990 respectively then these selectively apply a series offiltering (segmentation) stages to the received data relating to global,lead, property, listing, inquiry, geographic, and time wherein as thefiltering stages proceed matches to agents arise based upon the specificaspects associated with each agent. Accordingly, those matches result inthe process proceeding from any of first to sixth decisions 940, 950,960, 970, and 980 respectively to step 995A wherein the agents arecontacted as the settings within their profiles within the CMS-CMAPdefine after which the process proceeds to step 995B and stops.

Accordingly, the process flow as described and depicted in FIG. 9 may beviewed from the perspective of an enterprise, e.g. Locations Northrealtors, as providing them with an integration/lead capture processcoupled with a segmentation based upon the criteria that they set.Accordingly, considering first sub-flow 900A then this provides for theintegration of their lead streams from all sources including asdepicted, but not limited to, Website, Social Media (e.g. Facebook,Twitter), Mobility, Pay Per Click, and Direct (e.g. the manual entry ofbrokerage network referrals, etc.). As captured each lead would retain atag identifying its source so that this aspect is maintained through allsubsequent processing as this becomes in many enterprises an importantaspect of reporting analytics.

Subsequently, these leads captured from these multiple sources aresegmented accordingly to multiple categories of criteria through firstto fifth segmentation workflows 900B to 900F respectively. Accordingly,considering these segmentations these may include, for example:

-   -   Global—e.g. sales versus rental, seasonal versus annual;    -   Geographical—in terms of the different communities the Locations        North brokerage serves, e.g. Collingwood, Blue Mountains,        Thornbury, Meaford, Grey Highlands, Creemore, Wasaga Beach,        etc.;    -   Property Type—e.g. residential or commercial;    -   Listing Type—e.g. Brokerage listings, Non-Brokerage listings    -   Inquiry—e.g. a variety of rich content downloads and other        calls-to-action may be received and processed; and    -   Lead—e.g. buyer, seller, renter.

So any given lead could potentially have multiple categories or tagsassociated with it, for example, {Grey Highlands/Residentialsales/Non-Brokerage Listing/Buyer/Pay Per Click}. Accordingly, automateddistribution of the leads based upon these tags and their segmentationactions within the first to fifth segmentation workflows 900B to 900Frespectively result in the leads being filtered and communicated to theagents directly. Each of the first to fifth segmentation workflows 900Bto 900F respectively may output to a different agent for the same set oftags if the enterprise wishes, for example, Pay per Click leads to behandled separately to Social Media leads.

According to the configurations established within the first to fifthsegmentation workflows 900B to 900F respectively then a subset of agentswithin the enterprise are pushed the leads through the CMS-CMAP by thecommunication methods associated with themselves within their profile.Hence Robin may be communicated to by email only, Sarah by telephone,and Jim by email and text. Accordingly, the rules established based onthe multiple segmentation categories would allow, without going intodetail (for which see FIG. 10 below), some categories of leads would bedistributed directly to specific Agents or small groups of Agents orother processes. As noted supra the CMS-CMAP is not intended to replaceany existing CRM employed by the enterprise with respect to leadtracking but rather provide the enterprise with a modular, configurable,interface for classifying, tagging, and segmenting leads such that evenleads within a common social media platform, e.g. Facebook, may bevaried according to the specific webpage or the time/location of thelead generator. Various detailed reporting of leads by source, segmentand segment categories, distribution, result, etc., and combinationsthereof may be generated within the CMS-CMAP directly or based upon dataextracted/pushed/pulled from the enterprise's CRM to the CMS-CMAP.Accordingly, considering real estate then the CMS-CMAP records may beaugmented with a tag identifying a listing lead as being sold, or inanother example a lead may be tagged if they bought another propertywith the help of one of the enterprise's Agents.

Now referring to FIG. 10 there is depicted an exemplary flowchart for anapplication according to an embodiment of the invention relating to thedistribution of new contacts or leads within an based upon contact/leadsource. As depicted the process begins at step 1005 before proceeding tostrep 1010 wherein a determination as to the type of lead is made.Accordingly, the process then proceeds via step 1015 to first to fifthsub-flows 1020 to 1060 respectively. Accordingly, it can be seen thatwhilst there are considered within this exemplary CMS-CMAP as configuredby the enterprise to be 13 types of lead these are distributed throughonly 5 sub-flows. Accordingly, step 1015 may be viewed as exemplifyingan alternate embodiment of first segmentation workflow 900B or second tofifth workflows 900C to 900F. Accordingly there is depicted thefollowing mapping of type to sub-flow:

First sub-flow 1020: Types 1 to 5;

Second sub-flow 1030: Types 6 to 8;

Third sub-flow 1040: Types 9 and 10;

Fifth sub-flow 1050: Types 11 and 12; and

Sixth sub-flow 1060: Type 13.

Now referring to first sub-flow 1020 then this comprises the steps ofdetermining initially the zone of the territory to which the leadrelates wherein leads from zones 1, 2, and 3 are routed to Office 1,zone 4 to Office 2, and zone 5 to Office 3. Within each office the leadsare allocated by a round robin queue process before the process proceedsto engage the enterprise's CRM. In contrast second sub-flow 1030 routesthe leads directly to the listing agent before proceeding to engage theenterprise's CRM. Types 9 and 10 within third sub-flow 1040 are directlyallocated via a round robin queue across all offices and agents. Types11 and 12 within fourth sub-flow 1050 are routed to all agentssimultaneously and handled on a first response basis. Similarly, type 13leads are routed to all agents simultaneously but are handled throughfifth sub-flow 1060 so that their engagement to the enterprise CRM isthrough a different process.

Accordingly, it would be evident that FIG. 10 depicts a primary leaddistribution flow for a CMS-CMAP according to an embodiment of theinvention. Now consider the following association of leads/enquirieswith types:

Type 1: Non-Brokerage Listings;

Type 2: Pay-per-Click (PPC) Listings;

Type 3: Sellers;

Type 4: Rich Content Downloads;

Type 5: Website triggered Call-to-Action;

Type 6: Locations North Brokerage Listings;

Type 7: Featured Home(s) of the Week;

Type 8: Mobility Listing Inquiries;

Type 9: Rentals;

Type 10: Rental Rich Content Downloads;

Type 11: Commercial;

Type 12: Commercial Rich Content Downloads; and

Type 13: Snap Engage Inquiries.

Accordingly, as depicted in FIG. 10 Types 1 to 5 are routed according tothe process flow depicted to first sub-flow 1020. Within first sub-flow1020 then leads of Types 1 to 5 are routed/distributed according to thesame process. Accordingly, the Locations North territory is broken downinto 5 zones, Zone 1—Collingwood, Zone 2—Eastern, Zone 3—Western, Zone4—Thornbury, and Zone 5—Meaford based upon three Offices, namely Office1—Collingwood, Office 2—Thornbury, and Office 3—Meaford. As such allleads within Zones 1-3 are distributed to Agents within Office1—Collingwood on the basis of a round robin queue, all leads within Zone4 to Agents within Office 2, and all leads within Zone 5 to Agentswithin Office 3. For example, the Collingwood office may have 35 Agents,Thornbury 10 Agents, and Meaford 15 Agents. Optionally, rather than around robin queue being employed per received lead then the round robinqueue may be established upon other basis such as predetermined periodsof time, e.g. day, days, week, etc. or a quantity of leads such that,for example, each Agent will get 10 leads before their turn within theround robin queue is expended and the process proceeds. Optionally,other allocation methods other than round robin may be employed withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

Also as depicted in FIG. 10 Types 6 to 8 are routed according to theprocess flow depicted to second sub-flow 1030 which as they areLocations North Brokerage Listings, Featured Home(s) of the Week, andMobility Listing Inquiries; are distributed directly to the listingAgent. Similarly, Types 9 ad 10 relating to Rentals and Rental RichContent Downloads are routed as depicted by third sub-flow 1040 whereinall Agents are part of a round robin sequencing for these. Types 11 and12 relating to Commercial and Commercial Rich Content Downloads arerouted according to fourth sub-flow 1050 wherein they are routed to allAgents in parallel as are Type 13 leads relating to Snap EngageInquiries. However, it would be evident that as different types areadded different routing rules may be established and/or added and/oramended for these. For example, a chat system associated with theenterprises website encouraging a user to engage directly with an Agentthrough web based video chat features may route the enquiry only tothose actually within one of the offices, Offices 1 to 3, at thatinstant. Within another embodiment of the invention the CMS-CMAP mayschedule Agents such that they have predetermined time periods wherethey will be the engaging Agent for a particular period of time.

Accordingly, embodiments of the invention provide a single softwareinterface for gathering and integrating leads from multiple onlinesources, e.g. the enterprise office(s), website(s), listings generatedthrough Data Distribution Facilities (DDF) and/or Internet Data Exchange(IDX) sources from other Brokerages, social media, Google Adwords, etc.,as well as enable manual lead data entry. The CMS-CMAP allows for theseleads to be intelligently sorted, stored, and/or tagged according to avariety of criteria including but not limited to:

-   -   Multiple MLS property criteria (geographically; by whether it is        a residential, commercial or rental listing; and by additional        attributes such as waterfront, recreational and luxury homes, or        seasonal and yearly rentals, etc.); and    -   Multiple Brokerage-defined criteria (first-time homebuyers,        investment homebuyers, seasonal renters, various call-to-action        responses, etc.)

Subsequently the CMS-CMAP allows for the intelligent distribution of theleads directly to individual Agents, e.g. realtors, or indirectlythrough multiple round-robin queues created according to a variety ofbrokerage-defined criteria. Each Agent would typically belong to some orall of these queues on the basis of multiple Brokerage-defined tagsassigned depending upon his or her specific geographical location,office, area of specialty, etc.). Each Agent will then receive leads inthe manner that he or she wishes (by email and/or SMS and/or his or herpersonal CRM system or an enterprise-wide CRM system). The CMS-CMAPsaccording to embodiments of the invention may interface to a variety ofindustry-specific and generic CRM systems, facilitating systematicfollow-up and lead management generally with respect to lead tracking,analytical reporting, etc.

Within the embodiments described supra in respect of FIGS. 3 through 10have been described primarily from the viewpoint of a realtor/realestate MSME such as a brokerage. As such the MSME is an independententerprise, e.g. Locations North as represented by first serviceprovider 170C in FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively, affiliated with a largernational brand, e.g. Royal LePage, as represented by second serviceprovider network 170B in FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively. Typically, suchMSMEs do not possess integrated lead management tools as part of anoverall set of business solutions including SM, CRM, etc. and in manyinstances have none or limited business solutions such as SM, CRM. Assuch the CMS-CMAP provides such MSMEs with an integrated lead managementtool which is configurable from a single user through a few, tens tohundreds and beyond as the MSME grows and expands.

It would therefore be evident to one skilled in the art that for an MSMEtoday they are marketing and engaging customers and potential customerson more parallel channels than ever before today. At the same time aCMS-CMAP according to embodiments of the invention must allow itsconfiguration to be easily modified and adjusted by the MSME withoutsignificant skill and/or resources on the part of the MSME. Accordingly,CMS-CMAPs according to embodiments of the invention can adapt toevolving marketing channels with ease as the MSME can add a new channeland define distribution rules for that new channel. Referring to FIGS. 9and 10 respectively, for example, then the user may assign a new channelto an existing class such as those defined in steps 910 to 930 wherethese were, for example, initially defined as being linked to website,social media, mobility, pay-per-click or directly respectively. Theseare then processed by a corresponding segmentation sub-flow such asfirst to fifth segmentation workflows 900B to 900F respectively. Withinthese are agent distribution steps 995A which based upon the type oflead, e.g. one of Types 1 to Type 13, are routed to the appropriatesub-flow of the, as depicted, first to fifth sub-flows 1020 to 1060 inFIG. 10. Accordingly, if a new channel, e.g. LinkedIn™, is establishedthen this may be associated to step 915 by classing it as a Social Mediachannel. Accordingly, data received through this new channel where itrelates to Type 1 (Non-Brokerage Listings) would be routed via firstsub-flow 1020 in FIG. 10, whilst if it related to Type 9 (Rentals) itwould be routed via fourth sub-flow 1040 in FIG. 10.

Within the first sub-flow 1020 in FIG. 10 leads are processed further bygeographical zones. These may be established based upon one or moreprocesses such as associating a zone with one or more postal districts,e.g. by postcode or zip code, one or more telephone area codes, town,region, state, province, country, political wards, etc. Alternatively,geographical zones may be established through a mapping interface of theCMS-CMAP allowing the user to view a map and assign zones usingpredefined geometries, free-hand, free-hand with closest significantlandmark association (e.g. drawing a line selects a highway, Interstate,railway, river, etc.). Accordingly, MSMEs benefit from a discrete userconfigurable software solution allowing them to receive customer inputfrom a disparate array of sources and based upon tags and content withinthe customer input route the input to one or more MSME personnel.

Similarly, the CMS-CMAP allows the MSME to exploit existing channels ofcommunication, e.g. telephony, mobile telephony, pager, and email, forexample, and subsequently newer channels such as text and SMS, as wellas allowing postings to user social media accounts, etc. Subsequently,if new channels of contact are added then these may be offered withinthe appropriate sections of the CMS-CMAP, such as agent profiles,allowing the new channel to be added to one or agents.

Whilst embodiments of the invention have been described primarily fromthe viewpoint of a realtor/real estate MSME such as a brokerage it wouldbe evident that the CMS-CMAP according to embodiments of the inventionmay be exploited by other MSMEs within a variety of industriesincluding, but not limited to, those within Entertainment, Government,Telecommunications, Hospitality industry/Tourism, Mass media,Healthcare/hospitals, Public health, Information technology, Wastedisposal, Financial services, Banking, Insurance, Investment management,Consumer Goods, Professional services, Accounting, Legal services,Gambling, Retail sales, Franchising, Real estate, Education etc. andother elements of the service sector (tertiary sector) of the economy,i.e. activities where people offer their knowledge and time to improveproductivity, performance, potential, and sustainability, what is termedaffective labor. The basic characteristic of this sector is theproduction of services instead of end products. Services (also known as“intangible goods”) include attention, advice, access, experience, anddiscussion.

However, it would be evident that MSMEs may also be within the secondarysector of the economy which is generally considered to be those portionsof the economy that create a finished, usable product by either isdirect production or construction. Similarly, MSMEs may also be withinthe primary sector of the economy which is generally considered to bethose portions of the economy making direct use of natural resources.This includes, but is not limited to, agriculture, forestry, fishing andmining. Manufacturing industries that aggregate, pack, package, purifyor process raw materials close to the primary producers are normallyconsidered part of this sector, especially if the raw material isunsuitable for sale or difficult to transport long distances.

Specific details are given in the above description to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it is understoodthat the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details.For example, circuits may be shown in block diagrams in order not toobscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances,well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniquesmay be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring theembodiments.

Implementation of the techniques, blocks, steps and means describedabove may be done in various ways. For example, these techniques,blocks, steps and means may be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing unitsmay be implemented within one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signalprocessing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers,micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described above and/or a combination thereof.

Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a processwhich is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, astructure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describethe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be rearranged. A process is terminated when itsoperations are completed, but could have additional steps not includedin the figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, aprocedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process correspondsto a function, its termination corresponds to a return of the functionto the calling function or the main function.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,scripting languages, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription languages and/or any combination thereof. When implementedin software, firmware, middleware, scripting language and/or microcode,the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may bestored in a machine readable medium, such as a storage medium. A codesegment or machine-executable instruction may represent a procedure, afunction, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, asoftware package, a script, a class, or any combination of instructions,data structures and/or program statements. A code segment may be coupledto another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/orreceiving information, data, arguments, parameters and/or memorycontent. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed,forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memorysharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable mediumtangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing themethodologies described herein. For example, software codes may bestored in a memory. Memory may be implemented within the processor orexternal to the processor and may vary in implementation where thememory is employed in storing software codes for subsequent execution tothat when the memory is employed in executing the software codes. Asused herein the term “memory” refers to any type of long term, shortterm, volatile, nonvolatile, or other storage medium and is not to belimited to any particular type of memory or number of memories, or typeof media upon which memory is stored.

Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium” may representone or more devices for storing data, including read only memory (ROM),random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic diskstorage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/orother machine readable mediums for storing information. The term“machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to portable orfixed storage devices, optical storage devices, wireless channels and/orvarious other mediums capable of storing, containing or carryinginstruction(s) and/or data.

The methodologies described herein are, in one or more embodiments,performable by a machine which includes one or more processors thataccept code segments containing instructions. For any of the methodsdescribed herein, when the instructions are executed by the machine, themachine performs the method. Any machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine are included. Thus, a typical machine may be exemplifiedby a typical processing system that includes one or more processors.Each processor may include one or more of a CPU, a graphics-processingunit, and a programmable DSP unit. The processing system further mayinclude a memory subsystem including main RAM and/or a static RAM,and/or ROM. A bus subsystem may be included for communicating betweenthe components. If the processing system requires a display, such adisplay may be included, e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD). If manualdata entry is required, the processing system also includes an inputdevice such as one or more of an alphanumeric input unit such as akeyboard, a pointing control device such as a mouse, and so forth.

The memory includes machine-readable code segments (e.g. software orsoftware code) including instructions for performing, when executed bythe processing system, one of more of the methods described herein. Thesoftware may reside entirely in the memory, or may also reside,completely or at least partially, within the RAM and/or within theprocessor during execution thereof by the computer system. Thus, thememory and the processor also constitute a system comprisingmachine-readable code.

In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone deviceor may be connected, e.g., networked to other machines, in a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in server-client network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer or distributed network environment. Themachine may be, for example, a computer, a server, a cluster of servers,a cluster of computers, a web appliance, a distributed computingenvironment, a cloud computing environment, or any machine capable ofexecuting a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine. The term “machine” may also betaken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointlyexecute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein.

The foregoing disclosure of the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Many variations andmodifications of the embodiments described herein will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art in light of the above disclosure. Thescope of the invention is to be defined only by the claims appendedhereto, and by their equivalents.

Further, in describing representative embodiments of the presentinvention, the specification may have presented the method and/orprocess of the present invention as a particular sequence of steps.However, to the extent that the method or process does not rely on theparticular order of steps set forth herein, the method or process shouldnot be limited to the particular sequence of steps described. As one ofordinary skill in the art would appreciate, other sequences of steps maybe possible. Therefore, the particular order of the steps set forth inthe specification should not be construed as limitations on the claims.In addition, the claims directed to the method and/or process of thepresent invention should not be limited to the performance of theirsteps in the order written, and one skilled in the art can readilyappreciate that the sequences may be varied and still remain within thespirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: automatically receiving aset of data in a format of a plurality of formats from a user via a leadsource of a plurality of lead sources; and distributing a related set ofdata within an enterprise wherein each related set of data isestablished in dependence upon the received set of data and at least atag of a plurality of tags established in dependence upon at least oneof the format of the plurality of formats and the lead source of theplurality of lead sources, wherein the distribution is mediated by a setof rules established by the enterprise, the set of rules comprising afirst rule of a plurality of first rules each associated with at leastone of a specific tag type and a specific tag value and a second rule ofa plurality of second rules each relating to a portion of the internalorganization and personnel of the enterprise; and each lead source ofthe plurality of lead sources is associated with a differentcommunication format.
 2. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising prior to distributing the related set of data the receivedset of data is processed by: applying an initial global classificationto the received set of data wherein further processing of the receivedset of data is either terminated, directly routed to an individualwithin the enterprise or subject to additional processing; wherein theadditional processing comprises applying at least one classificationprocess of a plurality of classification processes to the received setof data; and each classification process of the plurality ofclassification processes selected from the group comprising a globalclassification process, a geographic classification of the enterpriseprocess, a geographic classification process, a property classificationprocess, a listing classification process, a lead classificationprocess, and a time classification process.
 3. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising storing the received set of data, the formatof the plurality of formats, the lead source of the plurality of leadsources, the at least one tag of the plurality of tags, and the tagvalue within a customer relationship management (CRM) database and aresult resource management database; wherein the received set of datahas not been previously stored within the CRM tool.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein each first rule of the plurality of firstrules is associated with at least one of a specific tag type and aspecific tag value and relates to one of the format of the plurality offormats, the lead source of the plurality of lead sources, and aclassification process; and the classification process is selected fromthe group comprising a global classification process, a first geographicclassification process established by the enterprise which isindependent of the user, and a second geographic classification processassociated with a geographical location of the user.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein each second rule of the plurality ofsecond rules relating to a portion of the internal organization andpersonnel of the enterprise relates to one or more classificationprocesses where each classification process is selected from the groupcomprising a property classification process, a listing classificationprocess, a lead classification process, and a time classificationprocess.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality oflead sources comprise a website, social media platform, an electroniccommunication, click through advertising, and a direct communication; anelectronic communication comprises either a text or an email; and adirect communication comprises either a telephone conversation or a faceto face verbal communication.
 7. The method according to claim 1,further comprising prior to distributing the related set of data thereceived set of data is processed by: applying an initial globalclassification to the received set of data wherein further processing ofthe received set of data is either terminated, directly routed to anindividual within the enterprise or subject to additional processing;and applying additional processing comprising applying a predeterminedsubset of a plurality of classification processes to the received set ofdata; and the plurality of classification processes are selected fromthe group comprising a global classification process, a geographicclassification of the enterprise process, a geographic classificationprocess, a property classification process, a listing classificationprocess, a lead classification process, and a time classificationprocess; and each classification process of the plurality ofclassification processes is configured according to the lead source ofthe plurality of lead sources from which the set of data was received.8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising prior todistributing the related set of data the received set of data isprocessed by: applying an initial global classification to the receivedset of data wherein further processing of the received set of data iseither terminated, directly routed to an individual within theenterprise or subject to additional processing; and applying additionalprocessing comprising applying a predetermined subset of a plurality ofclassification processes to the received set of data; wherein theplurality of classification processes are selected from the groupcomprising a global classification process, a geographic classificationof the enterprise process, a geographic classification process, aproperty classification process, a listing classification process, alead classification process, an inquiry classification and a timeclassification process; each classification process of the plurality ofclassification processes is configured according to the lead source ofthe plurality of lead sources from which the set of data was received;and the inquiry classification process associates a priority to thereceived set of data in dependence upon the lead source of the pluralityof lead sources from which the set of data was received.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising determining whether an assignedindividual established by the second rule of the plurality of secondrules relating to the portion of the internal organization and personnelof the enterprise has not accepted the distributed related set of data;and distributing the relating set of data to a subset of the personnelof the enterprise independent of the portion of the internalorganization; wherein each individual within the subset of the personnelof the enterprise associated with a specific tag value.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein prior to distributing the related set ofdata the received set of data is processed by: applying an initialglobal classification to the received set of data wherein furtherprocessing of the received set of data is either terminated, directlyrouted to an individual within the enterprise or subject to additionalprocessing; applying additional processing comprises applyingsequentially a predetermined subset of a plurality of classificationprocesses to the received set of data wherein each classificationprocess of the plurality of classification processes is associated witha specific tag type and establishes the specific tag type and a tagvalue in relation to the related set of data based upon theclassification process of the plurality of classification processesbeing executed; and determining after each classification process withinthe sequentially applied predetermined subset of the plurality ofclassification processes whether an individual within the personnel ofthe enterprise has specific tag types and tag values matching thosecurrently associated with the related set of data by the currentlyexecuted portion of the predetermined subset of the plurality ofclassification processes; wherein upon a positive determination theadditional processing terminates; upon a negative determination theadditional processing continues; the plurality of classificationprocesses are selected from the group comprising a global classificationprocess, a geographic classification of the enterprise process, ageographic classification process, a property classification process, alisting classification process, a lead classification process, and atime classification process; and each classification process of theplurality of classification processes is configured according to thelead source of the plurality of lead sources from which the set of datawas received.
 11. The method according to claim 1, further comprisingstoring processed data within a database associated with a CRM tool;wherein the processed data comprises the received set of data, theformat of the plurality of formats, the lead source of the plurality oflead sources, the at least one tag of the plurality of tags, and the tagvalue; wherein the received set of data has not been previously storedwithin the CRM tool; and the steps of automatically receiving anddistributing occur before the processed data is stored; and the steps ofautomatically receiving and distributing provide the enterprise with amodular, configurable, interface for classifying, tagging, andsegmenting an initial engagement with the user.
 12. The method accordingto claim 1, further comprising prior to distributing the related set ofdata the received set of data is processed by: applying an initialglobal classification to the received set of data wherein furtherprocessing of the received set of data is either terminated, directlyrouted to an individual within the enterprise or subject to additionalprocessing; and the additional processing comprises applying a leadclassification process followed sequentially by a predetermined subsetof a plurality of classification processes to the received set of data;wherein the predetermined subset of the plurality of classificationprocesses are established in dependence upon a result of the leadclassification process.
 13. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising prior to distributing the related set of data the receivedset of data is processed by: applying an initial global classificationto the received set of data wherein further processing of the receivedset of data is either terminated, directly routed to an individualwithin the enterprise or subject to additional processing; and applyingadditional processing comprises applying a lead classification processfollowed sequentially by a predetermined subset of a plurality ofclassification processes to the received set of data; wherein the leadclassification process establishes an outcome of a plurality ofoutcomes; the predetermined subset of the plurality of classificationprocesses are established in dependence upon the outcome of theplurality of outcomes established by the lead classification process;each second rule of the plurality of second rules relating to a portionof the internal organization and personnel of the enterprise isassociated with a predetermined subset of the plurality of outcomes. 14.The method according to claim 1, further comprising pre-processing thereceived set of data with a pre-processing workflow of a plurality ofpre-processing workflows; and processing the pre-processed received setof data with a segmentation workflow of a plurality of workflows;wherein the pre-processing workflow of the plurality of pre-processingworkflows is established in dependence upon the lead source of aplurality of lead sources; and the segmentation workflow of theplurality of segmentation workflows is established in dependence uponthe lead source of a plurality of lead sources.
 15. The method accordingto claim 1, further comprising pre-processing the received set of datawith a pre-processing workflow of a plurality of pre-processingworkflows; and processing the pre-processed received set of data with asegmentation workflow of a plurality of workflows; wherein thepre-processing workflow of the plurality of pre-processing workflows isestablished in dependence upon the lead source of a plurality of leadsources; the segmentation workflow of the plurality of segmentationworkflows is established in dependence upon the lead source of aplurality of lead sources; each segmentation workflow comprises a seriesof segmentation stages with a decision stage between each segmentationstage of the series of segmentation stages and its predecessorsegmentation stage of the series of segmentation stages except for thefirst segmentation stage of the series of segmentation stages and thefinal segmentation stage of the series of segmentation stages; eachdecision stage determines whether the received set of data as currentlyprocessed can be pushed for distribution or whether additionalsegmentation is required; upon a determination of pushing fordistribution the step of distributing is performed otherwise the nextsegmentation stage of the series of segmentation stages is executed; andthe final segmentation stage is a time based segmentation.
 16. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein each second rule of a plurality ofsecond rules is associated with a predetermined subset of the pluralityof first rules.
 17. The method according to claim 1, wherein a leadsource of the plurality of lead sources is a website of social mediaplatform comprising a plurality of webpages; and the first rules of theplurality of first rules and the second rule of the plurality of secondrules are established in dependence upon a webpage of the plurality ofwebpages from which the received set of data was generated.
 18. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising pre-processing thereceived set of data with a pre-processing workflow of a plurality ofpre-processing workflows; and associating the specific tag type and thespecific tag value to the received set of data when the pre-processingindicates a prior purchase of the user from the enterprise.
 19. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein a first lead source of theplurality of lead sources is either a data distribution facility or aninternet data exchange; a second lead source of the plurality of leadsources is either a social media platform or a link rendered to the userwithin a webpage established through advertising keyword matching. 20.The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of receiving anddistributing are performed by a software application in execution upon aserver; and the software application provides an interface allowing aregistered user of the software application associated with theenterprise to add a new lead source of the plurality of lead sources andconfigure the processes of receiving and distributing of the added newlead source of the plurality of lead sources.